La Maupin

About the play

Illustration by justasuta/Tumblr

Julie d'Aubigny. Swordswoman. Opera Singer. Rogue. Notorious bisexual. In La Maupin this creature of legend lives again, in a fast-paced musical adventure romp. The stories of this 17th century badass have been vastly distorted over time. Would a woman really take the holy vows in order to infiltrate a convent and make off with a beautiful nun? Could she really stab an offending noble clean through the shoulder and then find herself in his bed that same evening? Did a stolen kiss with a marquisette really lead to three challenges for a duel - and did Julie leave all three men bleeding in the street without breaking a sweat? Of course the answers are yes, yes, yes, and far more than that. We journey with Julie from the stables of Marseilles up to the Paris elite, where the voice that began singing insults in taverns for spare coin would grow into what many at the Paris Opera considered to be the most beautiful voice in France. At her peak, Julie was a force to be reckoned with - bashing bigots, tumbling chambermaids, and taking on some of Opera's most iconic roles, from Pallas Athena to Dido.

But under the legend, under the bravado and sex and violence and wild tales, there is a woman before her time. A woman trying to navigate an austere world that never quite made sense to her. Accounts vary; was she a lunatic or a martyr? A hero or a cautionary tale? Her story gets twisted, diluted, downright fabricated with each telling. This is our version of her story. The romance. The adventure. The tragedy. The art. While historical facts are disputed, there is one thing all accounts agree about Julie d'Aubigny, La Maupin: She is a legend.